Divorce rates peak in March

Unhappy couples are more likely to end things after the holidays. (Fotolia)

Months after the stressful—and sometimes unfaithful—holiday season, couples in trouble often pick March as the time to call it quits.

Seattle radio station KLPU reports that lawyers and relationship experts cite this month as the most common for divorce.
From the story:

“Divorces spike shortly after the holidays. That’s the time when people have finally made the decision get a divorce,” lawyer Mark Ohnstad told the online site Findlaw….

According to FindLaw.com, searches for “divorce” and related phrases such as “family law” and “child custody” jumped 50 percent – from just over 10,000 in December 2010 to nearly 16,000 in January 2011, and continued to surge through March.

After spending the holidays together, spouses may come to the realization that they are no longer happy and it is time to end their marriages.

“I would suppose that it’s the spring season, you just had a long miserable winter together, you’ve had it,” Schwartz told KPLU. “A reawakening of the earth and a reawakening of new possibilities.”

Waiting until the new year to divorce also allows married couples to file their taxes jointly, KLPU said.

John Mayer referenced this March breakup phenomenon in his song “St. Patrick’s Day,” when he sings that no one wants be alone for Christmas, New Year’s or Valentine’s, so even troublesome relationships are “safe ’til St. Patrick’s Day.”